(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aids for locating vehicles in crowded parking lots and particularly to an inexpensive and easy to use mechanical device which renders the location of a parked vehicle visible from a considerable distance. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved devices of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The inability to quickly find one's vehicle in a crowded parking lot, for example at a sports stadium or shopping mall, is a problem which has received considerable attention. In the prior art, there have basically been two different approaches to solving this problem. The first approach includes the use of remote transmitters and vehicle mounted receivers. Upon receipt of a transmitted signal, the receiver commands the operation of an attention getting device such as a flashing light or, in some instances, the vehicle horn. These transceiver type systems are relatively expensive and have generally not performed satisfactorily in view of their susceptibility to malfunction for numerous causes, such as transmitter battery failure. Such transceiver systems are also characterized by the inconvenience of having to carry the transmitter unit and, of course, the constant need to remember to remove the transmitter unit from the vehicle.
An alternate approach to the transceiver systems briefly discussed above resides in the use of signal flags which may be raised at the time a vehicle is parked. Since the use of the vehicle's radio antenna as a flagstaff is undesirable for obvious reasons, demountable flagstaff assemblies have been proposed. These mechanical locating devices, i.e., signal flags and associated flagstaff assemblies, are typically clamped in the vehicle side window. Examples of mechanical locator devices of the type being discussed may be seen from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,036,545, 3,672,323, 3,762,360, 4,163,426, 4,375,134, 4,519,153, 4,590,883, 4,650,147. The prior art mechanical signaling devices as exemplified by the referenced patents have been characterized by one or more inherent deficiencies. These deficiencies include mechanical complexity, and thus relatively high manufacturing costs, and a lack of adjustability so that the flagstaff can be positioned in a vertical orientation regardless of the slope of the vehicle side window.